The BCS has done a great job of picking the right challenger for the national title. Last year, it picked Alabama over No. 3 Florida. The Gators got shocked by No. 21 Louisville while Alabama blew out undefeated No. 1 Notre Dame by four touchdowns. In eight of the last 12 years, the No. 2 team beat the No. 1. In two of the four years that the No. 2 lost, the No. 3 teams lost their bowl by three TDs. Two years ago, No. 2 Oregon lost by only three to Auburn while No. 3 Oklahoma State edged No. 4 Stanford by three.

In the last 12 years, the BCS has only twice gotten even one of the teams wrong; in 2003, when it inexplicably left out No. 1 USC, and in 2004, when Auburn should have gotten the nod over Oklahoma (which lost 55-19 to USC) when all three were unbeaten.

Compare that to baseball, where the team that led the AL in wins met the team with the best record in the NL this year for the first time in 14 years. It’s been 10 years since the NFL team with the best record won the Super Bowl. In the last three years, 24 teams have had a better record than the eventual Super Bowl champ.

6 teams, not 4

A four-team playoff will also bring controversy. This year, two SEC teams would go and either the Pac-12 or Big 12 would be left out even though the Pac-12 leads the computer rankings. There’s an easy solution: a six-team playoff with first-round byes for the top two seeds and berths for the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 champs with the last two spots going to the highest-ranked champs from the other six FBS conferences. That would let in all of the best conference champs and bar teams that didn’t win their conference.

Heisman quality

The Heisman Trophy was close to becoming a joke before Cam Newton, RG3 and Johnny Manziel won the last three years. Jameis Winston, for all his personal problems, should continue that tradition of worthy winners from a football standpoint. The previous 11 winners include only one that ever made a Pro Bowl in the NFL (Carson Palmer). The Heisman goes back to 1935 but includes only five NFL Hall of Famers (Doak Walker, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders). One of the most controversial winners, Charles Woodson, will make it six (the runner-up, some guy named Peyton Manning, turned out to be pretty good, too).